Dear geeks

I'm just working on the March issue of Professional Nails at the moment and have been hunting for a topic for this month's Chatroom piece. As it's Mother's Day in March, I thought it'd be nice to acknowledge it in some way.

So, this month I'm on the hunt for old wives tales that your mum might have told you when you were younger - especially if they're nail related - or bit's of well-meaning advice that your mum passed on, thinking that she knew best.

As always, please include your full name and business name (not just geek name) when replying, otherwise I can't publish your comments in the mag!

You can either PM me or email me at kathrynh@tradesexhibitions.com with your comments if you don't want to post them here.

Have a fab weekend!!

Kat
xxx
Editor
Professional Nails

well when i was a young girl my mum told me not to bite my nails as it would make me fat, then whilst on a trip to the zoo i saw a pregnant women and told her..i know what you've been doing to get that fat tummy...she looked at me in horror then smiled when i said biting your nails !!!.

Angie (NailStyle) Leicester

An old wives tale that I heard was that if you have any warts on your fingers then you should bury a piece of steak in the garden and they would drop off after a while. Have you seen the price of a steak these days and what about those poor people who live in tower blocks.....I suppose they just chuck it over the balcony......lol.
David

Well my mum said that if I ate my cabbage it would put hairs on my chest ... yes and as a girl I would want this?

She also lived by two maxims - Manners maketh man, and there's no such word as can't. I still live by these today ... I treat people as I would like to be treated myself and believe that nothing is unachievable.

Sarah Haslam, Buff, Fareham

My grandma used to tell me to eat a cube of jelly every day and I would have beautiful strong nails. She has always sworn by this and would eat her cube of Rowntrees every morning. She probably still does it now!

Cathie Smith
Nail-Spa
Bristol

Yeah my gran swore by this and she did have really strong nails - coincidence??

Mum was always saying
"eat your carrots & you will be able to see in the dark"

Sommer Macrory
Cuties Nails
Fordingbridge/Hampshire

My Mum always gave me this fab advise and it has stuck with me since then...
If you aint got anything nice to say , then don't say anything at all......
Very important advise specially when clients come from a different Salon to you and you dont rate their work.....Or clients ask your comment on a new opend Nail Bar across the road from you.....

Ruth Fordham
Nails in London @ The Tanning Shop EC4
London

Hi,my mum said don't bite your nails because it will give you worms,it stopped me from biting mine.The jelly cube was also one of her beauty tips.
Rachel xx

My mother has always sworn that by eating lots of calcium (such as cheese eggs and milk) our hair skin and nails would grow beautiful. However, I have short hair, I bite my nails, I'm 2 1/2 stone over weight and still suffer with teenage spots at 29!

My mom also (until this day) consumes cubes of jelly (the ones before you make them with hot water). Personally, i think its a habit unlike myself that consumes chocoloate that has far more calories !!!!

Now as a parent myself, i try and get my son and i to consume lots of fluid to keep us hydrated!

Kim Williams (Sutton Coldfield)

My mum always told me, never trust a man that carries a purse or wallet for his money.

I have found this to be very true. Mean men are mean spirited!!!!

Not talking about men that carry wallets for their credit cards etc.


Sam

I forgot, my mum always said that!

In my family Old wives tales were construed in the same vein as gossip and have very little to do with mothers. Here are a few pearlers that were passed around:

- When your knees hurt, there's rain on the way.
- Break a mirror or open an umbrella inside the house equals 7 years' bad luck.
- If you make a face and the wind changes, your face stays that way. (I used to pray that this would happen to my sister).
- Starve a fever, feed a cold.
- If the fingernails grow after death it means the person who died has unfinished business.
- The banshee fortells bad tidings and she runs her long fingernails across your windows on a stormy night. (Frickin' trees rubbing against the glass!)

A lot of my mother's sayings are based in bribery I reckon! The couple I remember really clearly are:

1. The nastier medicine tastes the more good it does you
2. You can only feel 1 pain at a time, so if I had a tummy ache she used to pinch my toe to take the pain away!

She's nice, honestly!!

Yvette Willis
V Nails
Swindon